Senegal

Dakar (AFP) Staring out to sea on a flawlessly sunny day, underwater archaeologist Ibrahima Thiaw visualises three shipwrecks once packed with slaves that now lie somewhere beneath Senegal’s Atlantic waves. He wants more than anything to find them. Thiaw has spent years scouring the seabed off the island of Goree, once a west African slaving post, never losing hope of locating the elusive vessels with a small group of graduate students from Dakar’s Cheikh Anta Diop University. Goree was the largest slave-trading centre on the African coast between the 15thRead More

Dakar (AFP) Senegal’s constitutional council has confirmed a widely expected landslide for the coalition of President Macky Sall in legislative elections, bolstering his image ahead of a 2019 re-election bid. The constitutional council confirmed that presidential coalition Benno Bokk Yaakaar (BBY) would take 125 of the Senegalese parliament’s 165 seats, in results were published via the public APS news agency. The coalitions of ex-president Abdoulaye Wade and Dakar Mayor Khalifa Sall took 19 and seven seats respectively. The decision is the final approval required for the results of the JulyRead More

Dakar (AFP) A Senegalese singer was granted provisional release Monday after 10 days of detention for “offending the head of state and spreading fake news”, her lawyer said. Amy Colle Dieng, a well-known singer of Senegal’s popular mbalakh form of dance music, had been arrested on August 3 and charged after audio of her lashing out at President Macky Sall went viral. The 39-year-old is heard calling Sall a “sai sai”, or “scoundrel” in the local Wolof language, who “operates in the shadows” to achieve his aims. She adds thatRead More

Dakar (AFP) Ten members of a Senegalese football club arrested over a stampede last month which killed eight supporters attending a cup final have been taken into custody, officials said Saturday. Those arrested earlier in the week on suspicion of murder and premeditated assault include the chairman of the US Ouakam supporters’ club and one of the team’s players. US Ouakam’s legal advisor Samba Diop told AFP the 10 people were taken into custody on Friday evening. Last week the Senegalese league declared the Dakar-based outfit “wholly responsible” for theRead More

Dakar (AFP) A Senegalese singer was formally charged with “offending the head of state and broadcasting fake news”, her lawyer told AFP Wednesday, after audio of her lashing out at President Macky Sall went viral. Amy Colle Dieng, 39, was arrested on August 3 after unleashing a social media storm with a recording shared via the WhatsApp messaging service and then uploaded to YouTube. “She was charged on Tuesday night,” and will be kept in detention until her trial, said her lawyer Boubacar Barro. A separate source said a secondRead More

Dakar (AFP) A Senegalese singer was formally charged with “offending the head of state and broadcasting fake news”, her lawyer told AFP Wednesday, after audio of her lashing out at President Macky Sall went viral. Amy Colle Dieng, 39, was arrested on August 3 after unleashing a social media storm with a recording shared via the WhatsApp messaging service and then uploaded to YouTube. “She was charged on Tuesday night,” and will be kept in detention until her trial, said her lawyer Boubacar Barro. A separate source said a secondRead More

Dakar (AFP) Senegal’s ruling coalition will take 125 of 165 seats in parliament, the body counting votes said Saturday, confirming an expected landslide for supporters of President Macky Sall ahead of a 2019 re-election bid. The results of the July 30 legislative elections were published by the National Vote Counting Commission (CNRV) through the public APS news agency, and though official still need to be validated by the country’s constitutional council. The presidential coalition Benno Bokk Yaakaar (BBY) took 49.48 percent of votes in Senegal’s list system, while the coalitionsRead More

Dakar (AFP) The ruling coalition of Senegal’s President Macky Sall won a widely expected landslide in a legislative election, his prime minister said Monday, bolstering Sall’s prospects for re-election in 2019. The Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) coalition swept all but three of the country’s 45 electoral departments, Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne told the public Senegalese press agency APS ahead of the official release of results. The ruling coalition had “emerged victorious” following the vote on Sunday, Dionne said, while the turnout was 54 percent among Senegal’s 6.2 millionRead More

Dakar (AFP) Senegal voted in a tense general election Sunday, with ex-president Abdoulaye Wade accusing his successor of engineering problems with the ballot to thwart an opposition victory. The vote to elect a new parliament is seen as a test run for President Macky Sall ahead of a 2019 presidential election and follows a campaign marred by violence. There was an estimated turnout of almost 54 percent, said public broadcaster RTS citing official sources. The first results are due early Monday in the west African nation, where more than 6.2Read More

Dakar (AFP) Senegal holds a legislative election on Sunday following a campaign gripped by tension between the rival coalitions of President Macky Sall, his predecessor Abdoulaye Wade and Dakar’s detained mayor. The election is seen as a crucial test of support ahead of a presidential vote in 2019. “We aren’t talking any longer about July 30, but of 2019,” Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, who is running for a seat with Sall’s coalition, declared at a rally on Thursday night. Police have fired tear gas and arrested dozens duringRead More

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Arua (Uganda) (AFP) The number of South Sudanese who have fled to Uganda has hit one million, the UN said Thursday, with no end in sight to the war behind the world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis. The nearly four-year civil war